
Coming from the land of the Kalevala,
an
ancient land of forests, lakes, small villages and epic songs, the Karelian
Folk Music Ensemble is a trio from Petrozavodsk, in the Russian Republic
of Karelia. Karelia is a region that encompasses both sides of the Finnish/Russian
border and the ensemble's music is an exciting and interesting mix of
Finnish, Russian and Karelian cultures. Their music ranges from the ancient
epic songs accompanied by Finnish harps to a capella Russian village songs,
from old shepherd melodies on wooden flutes and trumpet to Finnish dances
on accordions, and from scythe accompaniment to church bells.


The Karelian Folk Music Ensemble first
came to the US in 1992 as a part of the Petrozavodsk State University
group, "TOIVE". Toive has two recordings on the Gadfly
label, "The Karelian Folk Music Ensemble" and "Ingrian
Folk Songs".

From
the university group, this trio emerged. And from 1993 - 1999, the KFME
trio was an integral part of the Christmas Revels Northlands show, performing
in cities all around the US. The Northlands Revels is a theatrical show
based on traditional songs, music and dances from Scandinavia and Karelia.
Music from this show is included on the CD "To Drive the Dark Away".

Since
1999, the Karelian Folk Music Ensemble has been performing concert tours,
with performances in cultural centers, clubs, museums and libraries. They
released their own CD-s "From The Land Of The Kalevala " and
"Winds Of The Past".

 Some instruments they use are:
Instruments played by the trio include 5,10, and32-string kanteles
(finnish-karelian harp ), jouhikko (karelian bowed lyre), wooden wind
instruments ( diatonic flutes, overtone flutes, goat's horn, birch barked
trumpet, and Estonian bag-pipes), Russian and German button accordions,
mandolin, bass, scythe and horse bells, plus three strong voices accompanied
by instruments or sung acapella. They sing in Finnish, Karelian and Russian
and even Finnglish! The show is a lot of fun!